Save Type Surname (from location) Usage English (Rare) Pronounced Pron. SHIP-lee [key] Other Forms FormsShiply, Schipley Meaning & History English: habitational name from any of the various places, for example in Derbyshire, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire, Sussex, and West Yorkshire, so called from Old English sceap, scip ‘sheep’ + leah ‘wood’, ‘clearing’.